Quapaw Tribe eyes local support for commercial casino in Kansas

The site of the former
Camptown Greyhound Park in Frontenac, Kansas. Image from Google Maps

The Quapaw Tribe remains confident that it will win approval for a commercial casino in Kansas.

Chairman John Berrey held a meeting in Crawford County, the site of the proposed casino, on Thursday. The tribe is working with Phil Ruffin, the owner of the defunct Camptown Greyhound Park and the owner of the Las Vegas Treasure Island Hotel & Casino, on the project.

“I think the area is ready for it,” Berrey said at the meeting, The Joplin Globe reported. “We’ve done some detailed feasibility studies that say this is a great location."

An aerial view
of the former Camptown Greyhound Park in Frontenac, Kansas. Image from Google Maps

The tribe and Ruffin are still working on the application they will submit to the Kansas
Lottery Commission. The deadline to file is December 19.

“We’re looking to make it the biggest, brightest, baddest thing around town, and I’m sure we can probably get that done,” Phil Ruffin Jr. said at the meeting, the Globe reported. “We’re looking to get this done and bring some jobs to Kansas.”

The
tribe operates the Downstream Casino Resort
just 40 miles north of the Camptown site. The gaming portion sits on trust land
in Oklahoma while other parts of the facility are located in Missouri and
Kansas.

The casino at Camptown is being envisioned as a smaller-scale version of Downstream.